Process to recover ammonium bicarbonate from wastewater

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a process, a method, and system for recovery and concentration of dissolved ammonium bicarbonate from a wastewater containing ammonia (NH3) using gas separation, condensation, filtration, and crystallization, each at controlled operating temperatures. The present invention includes 1) removal of ammonia from waste (sludges, semi-solids, and solids and liquids) without the use of chemicals at a temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius, 2) mixing of the gaseous ammonia with carbon dioxide and water vapor and concentrating dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate using reverse osmosis at a temperature of between about 35 and 50 degrees Celsius, and 3) crystallizing concentrated dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate at a temperature of less than about 35 degrees Celsius to form solid ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium carbonate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application Ser. No. 62/103,191 filed on Jan. 14, 2015, and U.S. Application Ser. No. 62/133,549 filed on Mar. 16, 2015, each which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a process, a method, and a system for the recovery and concentration of dissolved ammonium bicarbonate from a wastewater containing ammonia (NH3) using gas separation, condensation, and filtration, each at controlled operating temperatures. Wastewaters may contain dissolved ammonia as ammonium ion and as dissolved ammonia gas; as well as dissolved carbon dioxide as bicarbonate and carbonate ions and as dissolved carbon dioxide gas. The word “ammonia” will be used generally to refer to any dissolved form of ammonia. The present invention also relates to a process, a method, and a system for the production of a nitrogen rich fertilizer from an ammonia (NH3) containing wastewater using a process, method and/or system comprising the concentration of dissolved ammonium bicarbonate using gas separation, condensation, and filtration, followed by crystallization of concentrated ammonium bicarbonate, all at controlled operating temperatures. More specifically, the present invention relates to a process, method, and system to produce, from a wastewater containing ammonia (NH3), an organic solid containing high concentrations of nitrogen which could be utilized as a component ingredient in a nitrogen rich, organic fertilizer product. The process, method and system of the present invention is a useful improvement over existing technologies for the removal of ammonia from wastewaters because the present invention: converts NH3-N into ammonia gas but does not utilize any chemicals to increase pH, captures the ammonia gas in the form of a stable salt but does not utilize industrial acids to react with the ammonia, and produces a solid-fertilizer product with minimal use of energy.

The present invention allows for the production/synthesis of organic N-fertilizer, ammonium bicarbonate (AB) derived from wastewaters, sludges and solids containing ammonia (NH3) or ammonia and carbon dioxide (CO2), without the use of chemical additives.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Anaerobic digestion is a common unit operation employed in the treatment of wastewaters containing organics and nitrogenous compounds including industrial, municipal and agricultural wastewaters. The resulting solid/liquid slurry from an anaerobic digester has a high-solids portion and a low-solids portion. For example, the digestate produced from dairy wastewater, contains a high-solids portion comprising largely cellulosic solids and a low-solids portion containing concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide and dissolved ammonia nitrogen as well as salts and both suspended and dissolved organics. The dissolved ammonia nitrogen in the digestate presents significant environmental issues if left untreated, such as, when the digestate is land applied, discharged to a body of water, or sent to a holding pond or lagoon. Potential adverse air and water impacts include: ammonia (toxic to fish, irritating to human eyes and lungs) will be lost both to the air and water; ammonia will be biologically oxidized either in water or soil and chemically oxidized in the air, in either case forming gases that are irritants and can form ozone or greenhouse gases, etc. Most often regulations for ammonia release are designed to prevent excess nutrient input to surface waters which may cause eutrophication.

Effective treatment technologies are needed for agricultural and industrial waste streams that may release ammonia to the environment. For example, anaerobic digester digestate is often high in ammonia and their sources are required to remove ammonia nitrogen to avoid excessive nitrogen discharges.

One well-established technology for treatment of digestate is air stripping which uses hot air and/or steam to strip ammonia from the wastewater creating a liquid stream comprising substantially less dissolved ammonia and a heated gas containing the stripped ammonia. Formation of a solid precipitate containing ammonia, ammonium bicarbonate, and ammonium carbonate, during the air stripping process may foul the air stripping substrates causing operational and maintenance issues and thus is not desired. An increase of the pH of the wastewater shifts the equilibrium for ammonia away from dissolved ionized ammonium and more to ammonia gas. Accordingly, increased removal of the ammonia from digestate using air stripping is commonly achieved with chemical addition. Examples of chemicals used to increase pH include calcium, sodium or magnesium hydroxide. The stripped ammonia is absorbed into an acid solution. The use of acids is highly effective for ammonia recovery and could also be effective in producing a concentrated ammonium salt product using subsequent unit operations. On the other hand, treatment utilizing industrial chemicals to raise pH with a stripping process and for absorption of ammonia, such as, for example, for a treatment system for a dairy waste which produces a nutrient rich solid for use as a fertilizer, has the unavoidable consequence stemming from the use of such chemicals that any reusable end product cannot be certified as an “organic” product.

Stripper exhaust gas containing ammonia is sometimes released to the atmosphere although regulations typically require that it is further processed to capture the nitrogen. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,811,455 (Burke) describes a process for use of biogas rather than air and reclaiming ammonia from stripper exhaust gases in the form of ammonium bicarbonate by blending the CO2 in the digester biogas with the stripper gas and then precipitating and recovering ammonium bicarbonate with the added benefit of lowering CO2 in the biogas. One of the main drawbacks with that process is that the use of chemicals to raise the pH in the stripper precludes certification of the ammonium bicarbonate solids and any solids created from the ammonium bicarbonate solids as “organic” fertilizer. Another drawback is the inefficiency associated with processing large volumes of gas, including precipitation of ammonium bicarbonate in the gas phase.

There is a need for a waste treatment technology that converts wastewater containing nutrients into beneficial use materials that can be certified as organic. There is a need for a wastewater treatment technology that can remove dissolved ammonia nitrogen, react the resulting gaseous ammonia with carbon dioxide to re-form dissolved ammonium bicarbonate, concentrate the dissolved ammonium bicarbonate, and then capture the ammonia bicarbonate in crystalline form. There is a need for an improved manure treatment system comprising anaerobic digestion that does not utilize expensive, hazardous, chemicals to raise the pH of digestate, chemicals that present significant handling and storage issues. There is a need for an improved wastewater treatment system that effectively removes and recovers nitrogen in the form of ammonium bicarbonate without any chemical addition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Applicants have invented a new process, system, and method for treating wastewater that satisfies these needs. While the invention will be described in connection with certain embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to those embodiments. To the contrary, the invention includes all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

High-Ammonia and ammonium containing wastewaters are produced in many industrial and municipal processes. Agriculture is one of the largest sources of these wastewaters, in particular in the form of products from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste. Examples of sources of this waste are animal manure, meat processing, dairy processing, and silage. Ammonia (NH3) that is not captured in a stable chemical form is a potential source of air and water pollution.

The present invention provides a way to remove a substantial portion of the ammonia nitrogen within a liquid wastewater and capture the nitrogen in the form of crystallized ammonium bicarbonate using a series of unit operations operated under specified temperatures and without the use of chemicals to raise pH. The resulting ammonium bicarbonate solid is high in nitrogen content and could be used in combination with other materials to create a nitrogen rich organic fertilizer product.

The present invention includes at least three components:

-   -   1) removal of the ammonia from the waste (including without         limitation sludges, semi-solids, and solids and liquids) without         the use of chemicals at a temperature of at least 80 degrees         Celsius thereby converting the ammonia to gaseous form;     -   2) mixing of the gaseous ammonia with carbon dioxide and water         vapor at a temperature of between about 35 and 50 degrees         Celsius causing the formation of dissolved ammonium carbonate         and ammonium bicarbonate in a liquid condensate and         concentrating the dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium         bicarbonate using reverse osmosis also operating at a         temperature of between about 35 and 50 degrees Celsius; and     -   3) crystallizing the concentrated dissolved ammonium carbonate         and ammonium bicarbonate at a temperature below 35 degrees         Celsius such that the reverse osmosis concentrate becomes         saturated with dissolved ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium         carbonate which depends upon the concentrations of ammonium         carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate to form solid ammonium         bicarbonate and ammonium carbonate.

The present invention is not limited to any one specific method or process to remove ammonia nitrogen from the waste but rather includes numerous alternatives provided the operating temperatures for the components are followed. Stripping animal manure digestate at a temperature of at least 60 degrees Celsius and preferably at a temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius, for example, is one way to remove ammonia nitrogen from animal waste creating an exhaust gas containing ammonia gas. Examples of other ways to remove ammonia nitrogen from wastewaters and create an ammonia-containing gas include dryers, and filtration devices with membrane modules and heat sources.

Once the dissolved ammonia is removed from the waste and is in gaseous form, the present invention includes condensing the gaseous ammonia with carbon dioxide and water vapor at a temperature of between about 35 and 50 degrees Celsius causing the formation of dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate in a liquid condensate. Depending upon the characteristics of the waste and the preceding treatment processes, the amount of carbon dioxide within the ammonia-containing gas may be enough to convert substantially all of the ammonia into ammonium carbonate and ammonia bicarbonate without addition of carbon dioxide. Digested dairy manure, for example, put through a stripping process operated at greater than 80 degrees Celsius should create an exhaust gas containing enough carbon dioxide for the conversion of substantially all of the gaseous ammonia to dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonia bicarbonate. The net result of the process is to recover ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium carbonate from the mixture of materials constituting the digestate as a high purity solution of ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium carbonate in the condensate. The formation of the ammonium carbonate and ammonia bicarbonate without the use of chemicals in the ammonia removal step, and without an outside source for carbon dioxide permits organic certification of the eventually created nitrogen rich solids. If additional carbon dioxide is required, the organic certification can still be used if the carbon dioxide is from non-synthetic sources. While organic fertilizers have a significant financial advantage over non-organic fertilizers, the present invention is not limited solely to a process, method, or system resulting in organic products. The present invention also includes addition of carbon dioxide from outside sources resulting in products unable to be certified as organic.

The dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate in the resulting condensate liquid is then concentrated. A two-stage reverse osmosis unit operating between about 35 and 50 degrees Celsius, for example concentrates dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate to about 10 times the ammonium concentration of the condensate.

The liquid containing concentrated dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate is then cooled to less than about 35 degrees Celsius to saturate the reverse osmosis concentrate and form solid ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium carbonate which is stable and high in nitrogen content. Moreover, resulting solids are substantially free of phosphorous. The solid ammonium bicarbonate can be stored and/or combined with other materials to create nitrogen rich fertilizer.

Although the detailed chemistry for the formation of ammonium bicarbonate from ammonia and carbon dioxide is complex, the reactions provide predictable behaviors at temperatures and pressures accessible under normal industrial and agricultural conditions. At biological pH about 8, ammonium bicarbonate is stable in solutions below about 50 degrees Celsius and rapidly decomposes in solutions above about 80 degrees Celsius, as displayed in Table 2 below. The present invention utilizes the varying stability and solubility of ammonium bicarbonate at different temperatures and pressures a) to drive substantially all of the dissolved ammonium out of the wastewater and into gaseous form (which occurs at a temperature of about 80 degrees Celsius (Table 2) and is complete at a temperature of about 90 degrees Celsius (Table 1)), b) so that it can be condensed with carbon dioxide and water vapor and concentrated at a lower temperature (at a temperature of between about 35 and 50 degrees Celsius) where ammonium bicarbonate is stable, thereby converting the ammonia to dissolved ammonium bicarbonate in a concentrated liquid form, and c) so that the concentrated dissolved ammonium bicarbonate can be solidified at a lower temperate (less than about 20 degrees Celsius).

The following table shows how the solubility (and stability) of ammonium bicarbonate varies with temperature. Weast, R. C. (ed.) Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. 69th ed. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press Inc., 1988-1989; Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, 6th Edition, McGraw Hill, 1997.

TABLE 1 Variation of solubility of different substances (mostly inorganic compounds) in water with temperature, under 1 atmosphere pressure. Units of solubility are given in grams per 100 grams of water (g/100 g) Temperature (Degrees C.) Range Substance Formula 10 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Ammonium NH₄HCO₃ 16.1 21.7 28.4 36.6 59.2 109 dec bicarbonate Ammonium (NH₄)₂CO₃•H₂O 10 dec carbonate Ammonium NH4NO3 150 192 242 297 344 421 499 580 740 871 nitrate Ammonium (NH4)2SO4 73 75.4 78.1 81.2 84.3 87.4 94.1 103 sulfate dec = decomposition of compound at specified temperature

TABLE 2 Fraction of ammonia-N in the form of ammonia gas at conditions of pH and temperature. f = 1/(1 + 10{circumflex over ( )}(pKa-pH)) T K T C. pKa T F.\pH 7 8 9 10 11 300 27 9.20 80 0.01 0.06 0.39 0.86 0.98 322 49 8.57 120 0.03 0.21 0.73 0.96 1.00 333 60 8.29 140 0.05 0.34 0.84 0.98 1.00 344 71 8.02 160 0.09 0.49 0.90 0.99 1.00 355 82 7.78 180 0.14 0.63 0.94 0.99 1.00 pKa from National Research Council. Ammonia. University Park Press, Baltimore, MD (1979).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description of the invention given above and the detailed description of an embodiment given below, serve to explain the principles of the present invention. Similar components of the devices are similarly numbered for simplicity.

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of one embodiment of the invention for the treatment of cattle manure (e.g., from a CAFO) comprising solids separation, anaerobic digestion, stripping, condensation, concentration using reverse osmosis, and crystallization.

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing of another embodiment of the invention for the treatment of dairy manure (e.g., from a CAFO) comprising solids separation, anaerobic digestion, ultra filtration with heating and membrane filtration, condensation, concentration using reverse osmosis, crystallization, and storage.

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of another embodiment of the invention for the treatment of a ammonia-containing wastewater (e.g., from layer manure) comprising heat drying, condensation of ammonia water, dissolution of carbon dioxide into the ammonia water using membrane filters, concentration of ammonium bicarbonate, crystallization, and storage.

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of another embodiment of the invention for the treatment of cattle manure (e.g., from a CAFO) comprising solids separation, anaerobic digestion, stripping, absorption, concentration using reverse osmosis, and crystallization. The carbon dioxide dissolved in solution within the anaerobic digester's digestate, which derives directly from the cattle manure waste, is supplemented by carbon dioxide removed from the biogas.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description of the invention given above and the detailed description of an embodiment given below, serve to explain the principles of the present invention. Similar components of the devices are similarly numbered for simplicity.

FIG. 1 is a process flow schematic drawing of one embodiment of the invention for the treatment of cattle manure (e.g., from a CAFO) comprising solids separation, anaerobic digestion, stripping, condensation, concentration, and crystallization. In the process according to FIG. 1, there is no chemical addition to adjust pH prior to, or in, the stripping process. The present invention excludes the use of pH adjustment chemicals. In the process according to FIG. 1, there is also no external supply of carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide dissolved in solution within the anaerobic digester's digestate, which derives directly from the cattle manure waste, is the sole source for carbon dioxide in the process.

As depicted in FIG. 1, raw manure 10 with or without associated dairy waste generated at the CAFO is transported to a solids separation unit/process 20 (it being understood that a mixing or holding tank/vessel could be used prior to solids separation and/or can be used for solids separation). The solids separation unit/process may be a single stage or chamber unit or it could be a series of stages or chambers for coarse solids separation and intermediate solids separation.

The slurry/effluent 24 from the solids separation unit 20 is input into an anaerobic digester 30 which digests much, preferably most, of the dissolved organics and small organic particulates to produce biogas 32 and an effluent digestate 34.

The effluent digestate 34 from the anaerobic digester 30 contains residual solids, dissolved salts and organics, and concentrations of dissolved ammonia and carbon dioxide. The present invention collects the ammonia and carbon dioxide and captures them in a subsequent multistage process to re-form solid ammonium bicarbonate. Each stage of the subsequent multistage process operates at different temperatures to take advantage of the solubility properties of ammonium bicarbonate for its concentration in dissolved form and then its formation as a nitrogen rich solid.

The temperature of digestate 34 out of a typical anaerobic digester treating cattle manure is about 30 degrees Celsius. For the process of the invention, the digestate needs to be heated to greater than about 80 degrees Celsius for treatment in the stripper 40.

The stripper operating at a temperature of greater than about 80 degrees Celsius, without any chemical addition to increase pH, removes dissolved ammonia and dissolved carbon dioxide from the digestate 34 creating exhaust vapor 42 containing water vapor, gaseous carbon dioxide, and gaseous ammonia. Vapor 42 will also contain traces of organic volatiles and semi-volatiles. In FIG. 1, footnote 1 denotes the vapor is constant composition for continuous operation and varies during a batch process—H20, CO2, and NH3 evolve with traces of organic volatiles and semi volatiles. The treated water and solids 44 out of the stripper can be further treated for application to land or water using current treatment technologies. The temperature of the stripper 40 can be maintained using a heat exchanger 46. The vapor 42 created by stripping the digestate 34 in that first stage, the separation stage, is then treated in a second condensation and concentration stage to create a concentrated dissolved ammonium bicarbonate solution.

Condenser 50 and reverse osmosis filter 60 are then used to treat vapor 42 at a temperature of between about 35 degrees Celsius and 50 degrees Celsius. A pressure control valve 48 can be used between the stripper 40 and the condenser 50 to maintain a differential between the two. In FIG. 1, footnote 2 denotes pressure control valve is set to maintain differential between distillation unit and condenser—Condenser temperature, T, must be less than 50 degrees Celsius to keep NH4 and HCO3 in solution, while distillation temperature must be greater than 80 degrees Celsius to convert to NH3 and CO2. Operating the condenser 50 between about 35 and 50 degrees Celsius allows the water vapor, ammonia, and carbon dioxide to form dissolved ammonium bicarbonate. Maintaining between about 35 and 50 degrees Celsius in the condenser 50, and a pH less than 9, prevents precipitation of dissolved ammonium bicarbonate or ammonium carbonate and keeps it in dissolved form. The temperature of the condenser 50 can be maintained using a heat exchanger 56. The non-condensed water and gases 52 exiting the condenser 50 can be discharged to the atmosphere. In FIG. 1, footnote 3 denotes AB solution in condenser is distillate of feed to stripping device.

Following the condenser 50, and operating at about the same temperature as the condenser 50, the effluent ammonium bicarbonate solution 54 is treated in a reverse osmosis filter 60. Reverse osmosis filter 60 removes water thereby concentrating the ammonium bicarbonate in the solution. The resulting concentrated effluent 64 out of the reverse osmosis filter 60 contains about 50-100 times the concentration of dissolved ammonium bicarbonate in the digestate 34. In FIG. 1, footnote 5 denotes AB concentrate is supersaturated relative to temperature of crystallizer. Control of the reverse osmosis temperature avoids precipitation of the ammonium bicarbonate on the membrane while achieving a concentration sufficient for saturation at the temperature in the crystallizer. The permeate 62 is a clean water than can be reused or discharged.

The concentrated effluent 64 out of the reverse osmosis filter 60 is then treated at a temperature of less than about 35 degrees Celsius in stage three using a crystallizer 70. It is understood that lower temperatures, e.g., 20 degrees Celsius, could be used in the crystallizer depending upon the concentrations of dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate in the reverse osmosis concentrate. Solid crystals of ammonium bicarbonate are grown in the crystallizer 70 under controlled conditions, separated from the liquid fraction to produce an ammonium-salt 74 which may be dried, pelletized or granulated to form a final product. In some embodiments, a portion of the saturated ammonium bicarbonate supernatant is recycled 72 to the reverse osmosis filter 60, after it is heated to the required temperature in a heat exchanger 56. In FIG. 1, footnote 4 denotes heat exchange on recirculation liquid to minimize size of heat exchanger 56 to match temperature of reactor liquid.

Due to the unique sequence of the preceding unit operations, the resulting ammonium salt may be dried and packaged for commercial distribution as a specialized nitrogen fertilizer, that is high-purity, phosphorus free, and certified USDA organic. The resulting product is high-purity and phosphorous free due to the two purification operations, namely, 1) the distillation process which removes ammonia and separates it from salts that are left behind in the distillation unit's liquid effluent, and 2) the crystallization process which removes solid ammonium bicarbonate from other contaminants including traces of phosphorous containing salts. If synthetic chemicals are not used in obtaining the solids or liquid digestate, the ammonium bicarbonate product will have the potential for designation as organic (USDA 2012) fertilizer. The USDA designation is of economic importance as the price of organic fertilizer expressed as dollars per pound ammonia nitrogen, is materially higher than that of chemical (non-organic) fertilizers that are equally uniform, high purity, and concentrated sources of NH3-N. As with synthetic fertilizer, the material is nearly odorless, and has low transport and application costs relative to manure and digestate. If the ammonia is captured with an industrial acid or is derived from application of caustic or other industrial alkali—it will not qualify as organic fertilizer. The ammonium salt according to the invention resolves this conflict by (1) producing ammonia gas thermally with no chemical addition, and (2) using the carbon dioxide found in the digestate to recover the ammonia from the digestate to form an organic fertilizer, ammonium bicarbonate.

The ammonium salt 74 can be stored 80 for use on or off site.

Another embodiment of the invention for a wastewater that utilizes solids reduction prior to membrane separation of ammonia is shown in FIG. 2. In such instances, stage 1 of the foregoing described process can be modified to remove solids (effluent suspended solids of 0.1% or less) so that a membrane separation device could be employed to separate the gases water vapor, carbon dioxide, and ammonia from the digestate liquid.

As depicted in FIG. 2, raw manure 110 with or without associated dairy waste generated at the CAFO is transported to a solids separation unit/process 120 (it being understood that a mixing or holding tank/vessel could be used prior to solids separation or for the separation). The solids separation unit/process 120 may be a single stage or chamber unit or it could be a series of stages or chambers. In FIG. 2, the footnotes 1-4 denote the following:

-   -   [1] mesophilic digester, 30 C         -   digested dairy manure, typical ammonia nitrogen is 1000 ppm         -   AB is ammonium bicarbonate. Calculated from NH3-N and MW             ratio         -   AB concentration is 1% of saturation at 30 C         -   digested manure is high in TSS=1300 ppm         -   No pH adjustment by either chemical addition or CO2 removal     -   [2] gas from Separation Device has 20× concentration of ammonia         as input         -   NH3-N is 60% NH3 at 80 C, 34% NH3 at 60 C, and 4% NH3 at 20         -   Temperature must be about 80 C or higher to convert NH4+ to             NH3         -   AB concentration is about 5% of saturation at 80 C         -   Nearly all the TSS is removed by the uF     -   [3] Condensate <50 C to convert dissolved NH3 and CO2 to         dissolved AB, and >35 C to avoid precipitation in lines or RO         -   AB concentrate from RO is about 81% of saturation at 50 C         -   pH must be less than 9 to avoid carbonate formation and             precipitation         -   Recycle of liquor from crytallizer to RO has about the same             concentration as the RO concentrate, and must be heated to             the RO temperature     -   [4] Solids from crystallizer are high-purity, certifiable         organic N-fertilizer

The output/effluent from the solids separation unit 124 is input into an anaerobic digester 130 which digests much, preferably most, of the dissolved organics and small organic particulates to produce biogas 132 and an effluent digestate 134.

The temperature of digestate 134, about 30 degrees Celsius, is heated to greater than about 80 degrees Celsius for treatment in stage 1, as described in detail below. Here again, as for the previous embodiment, the invention excludes the addition of chemicals to increase pH and also excludes the addition of carbon dioxide from a non-organic source (preferably, the carbon dioxide used in the process comes directly from the waste being treated). For the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, an input vapor similar to that created in the foregoing embodiment shown in FIG. 1 containing water vapor, gaseous carbon dioxide, and gaseous ammonia, is created using a different unit process than shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the separation of the gaseous ammonia and gaseous carbon dioxide from the digestate 134 is accomplished using a membrane device 143 instead of a stripper. The membrane passes gases, such as water vapor, ammonia, and carbon dioxide, but not liquid water. It therefore performs the same gas-separation function as the separation device shown in stage 1 of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the digestate 134 is treated for solids removal prior to stage 1, the ultrafilter 136, and prior to gas separation in the membrane device 143. An ultra filter 136 is shown in FIG. 2 for the solids removal it being understood that other solids removal methods producing the equivalent result of fine solids removal, for example passing only solids of less than 0.5 micron, are included within the scope of the invention. The concentrated solids 138 from the ultra filter 136 can be mixed with the solids from the initial solids separation step, or processed as a high phosphorus solid product. The ultra filter 136 removes a substantial portion of the total suspended solids in the digestate. The low suspended-solids (0.1% or less) digestate 137 is then treated in the gas-separation process of the invention which in this embodiment includes use of membrane device 143. The temperature of the low-solids digestate 137 is raised to at least about 80 degrees Celsius using a heat exchanger 146. Membrane device 143 includes a hydrophobic membrane that allows gas molecules to pass, such as water vapor, ammonia, and carbon dioxide, but not the liquid and its contaminants. The preceding uF is required to remove solids and organic material that might otherwise foul the hydrophobic membrane. Vapor 142 will also contain traces of organic volatiles and semi-volatiles. The treated water and solids 149 out of the membrane device 143 can be further treated for application to land or water using current treatment technologies.

The vapor 142 created from the digestate using the membrane device 143 in that first stage, the separation stage, is then treated in stage 2 and stage 3 using condensation and concentration, respectively, followed by crystallization, similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

Condenser 150 and reverse osmosis filter 160 are used to condense vapor 142 and concentrate its condensate 154 at a temperature of between about 35 and 50 degrees Celsius, to hold stable ammonium bicarbonate in solution. The effluent ammonium bicarbonate solution 154 out of the condenser 150 contains the dissolved ammonium bicarbonate from the ammonia and carbon dioxide of the digestate 134. The non-condensed water and gases 152 exiting the condenser 150 can be discharged to the atmosphere.

Following the condenser 150, and operating at about the same temperature as the condenser 150, the effluent ammonium bicarbonate solution 154 is treated in a reverse osmosis filter 160. Reverse osmosis filter 160 removes water thereby concentrating the ammonium bicarbonate in the solution. The resulting concentrated effluent 164 out of the reverse osmosis filter 160 contains about 10 times the concentration of dissolved ammonium bicarbonate in the condenser effluent 154. The permeate 162 is a clean water than can be reused or discharged.

The concentrated effluent 164 out of the reverse osmosis filter 160 is then treated at a temperature of less than about 35 degrees Celsius, preferably less than 20 degrees Celsius, in stage 3 using a crystallizer 170. Solid crystals of ammonium bicarbonate are grown in the crystallizer 170 under controlled conditions, separated from the liquid fraction to produce an ammonium-salt 174 which may be dried, pelletized or granulated to form a final product. In some embodiments, a portion of the saturated ammonium bicarbonate supernatant is recycled 172 to the reverse osmosis filter 160.

A resulting ammonium salt 174 solid having physical and chemical properties as stated above for the first embodiment will result. The ammonium salt can be stored 180 for use on or off site.

Yet another embodiment of the invention using an external source for carbon dioxide is shown in FIG. 3. Such an embodiment could be used for wastes that do not contain the carbon dioxide needed to convert the ammonia to ammonium bicarbonate. Examples of such wastes include waste not processed using anaerobic digestion, such as high-solids manure or other organic waste. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, as compared to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, stage 1 and stage 2 are modified. In FIG. 3, stage 1 comprises a dryer 247 in place of a stripper and stage 2 includes the addition of membrane modules 253 with a source of carbon dioxide 255 along with a condenser 250 and a reverse osmosis filter 260. In FIG. 3, the footnotes 1-4 denote the following:

[1] dryer exhaust to 2-stage condenser

-   -   ammonia water at 2× exhaust ammonia concentration, temperature         between 20 and 35 C

[2] ammonia stabilized with CO2 as acid

-   -   P adjusted to provide CO2 to stabilize ammonia water in effluent     -   CO2 flow rate equals CO2 as HCO3 in effluent liquid.

[3] Ammonium bicarbonate at 20 C in cystallizer

-   -   Mother liquor recycled to RO, and must be heated to the RO         temperature

[4] inject compressed vent gas (CO2, H20, NH3) into ammonia water feed line Here again, as for the previous embodiments, the invention excludes the addition of chemicals to increase pH. For the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a solution of ammonium bicarbonate is created and crystallized as in the foregoing embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 3, the separation of the gaseous ammonia from the waste 234 is performed using a dryer 247, an ammonia water is created using condensers 250, and gaseous carbon dioxide is contacted with the ammonia water solution using membrane device 253 to create a solution of ammonium bicarbonate.

As depicted in FIG. 3, the waste (such as layer manure) 234 is treated in stage 1 of the process of the invention which in this embodiment includes use of dryer 247. The temperature of the dryer is at least about 80 degrees Celsius. Dryer 247 operates at a sufficiently high temperature that the ammonia in the waste is converted to gas and removed with the water vapor. The dryer functions as a separation device in a manner analogous to the distillation process 40 in FIG. 1. The exhaust vapor 242 from the dryer 247 contains water vapor and gaseous ammonia and lower than desired concentrations of carbon dioxide. In this embodiment, it is assumed that there is an insufficient amount of carbon dioxide in the waste to react with and convert substantially all of the gaseous ammonia into dissolved ammonium bicarbonate and thus, additional carbon dioxide is required. The dried waste 244 out of the dryer 247 can be processed further into solid products such as fertilizer, animal feed supplement, or fuel.

The vapor 242 created using the dryer 247 in stage 1, the separation stage, is then treated in stage 2 using condensation, carbon dioxide addition, and concentration.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a two-step condenser 250 to create an ammonia water 258 from the dryer exhaust gas 242. The first step removes about one half of the water and nearly no ammonia (NH3) and the second step is complete condensation producing ammonia water at about 50 degrees Celsius or less. The concentration of the dissolved ammonia in the condensate will be about twice that in the dryer vapor, for example about 0.5% by weight. The non-condensed water and gases 252 exiting the condenser 250 can be discharged to the atmosphere.

The ammonia water 258 is then treated in a membrane device 253 where an external source of gaseous carbon dioxide 255 is added. The gaseous carbon dioxide passes through the membrane, dissolves into the ammonia water, and reacts to create a solution of ammonium bicarbonate 254. For example, the solution of ammonium bicarbonate may be 2.3% by weight ammonium bicarbonate at about pH 6.5-8.5, depending on the amount of CO2 added and the temperature.

The ammonium bicarbonate 254 is then treated in a reverse osmosis filter 260. Reverse osmosis filter 260 removes water thereby concentrating the ammonium bicarbonate in the solution. The resulting concentrated effluent 264 out of the reverse osmosis filter 260 contains about 20 times the concentration of ammonia in the dryer gas. The permeate 262 is a clean water than can be reused or discharged. Stage 2 which includes the condenser 250, the membrane device 253 and the reverse osmosis filter 260 operate at a temperature of between about 35 degrees Celsius and 50 degrees Celsius.

The dissolved ammonium bicarbonate solution 264 is then treated in stage 3 using crystallization, similar to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The concentrated effluent 264 out of the reverse osmosis filter 260 is cooled to a temperature of less than about 35 degrees Celsius in stage 3 using a crystallizer 270. Solid crystals of ammonium bicarbonate are grown in the crystallizer 270 under controlled conditions, separated from the liquid fraction to produce an ammonium-salt 274 which may be dried (such as using dryer 285), pelletized or granulated to form a final product.

A resulting ammonium salt solid having physical and chemical properties as stated above for the first and second embodiments will result. However, the certification as an organic product is contingent upon use of carbon dioxide produced organically. If synthetic carbon dioxide is used, the ammonium bicarbonate product cannot be designated as an organic fertilizer.

Carbon dioxide produced by fermentation of either animal waste or agricultural material (for example to produce ethanol) is certifiably organic; and is readily available from agricultural sources to assure that the carbon dioxide is neither synthetic nor contaminated with synthetic carbon dioxide.

FIG. 4 is a process flow schematic drawing of a variation on the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1 for the treatment of cattle manure (e.g., from a CAFO) comprising solids separation, anaerobic digestion, stripping, absorption, concentration, and crystallization. In the process according to FIG. 4, there is no chemical addition to adjust pH prior to, or in, the stripping process. The present invention excludes the use of pH adjustment chemicals. In the process according to FIG. 4, there is also no external supply of carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide dissolved in solution within the anaerobic digester's digestate, which derives directly from the cattle manure waste, is supplemented by carbon dioxide from the biogas to assure maintenance of CO2 in the water to stabilize the ammonia in the absorber column. FIG. 4 shows the biogas 32 processed in a CO2 removal device 35 to provide CO2 to provide carbonated water for capture of ammonia as ammonium bicarbonate. For example, the device could be a pressure swing adsorption device which is commonly used to separate gases, such as CH4 and CO2, with materially different properties. In FIG. 4, footnotes 1-5 denote the following:

-   -   [1] vapor is constant composition for continuous operation and         varies during a batch process. H20, CO2, and NH3 evolve with         traces of organic volatiles and semi-volatiles.     -   [2] pressure control valve is set to maintain differential         between stripper unit and absorber. Absorber temperature, T,         must be less than 50 C to keep NH4 and HCO3 in solution, while         stripper temperature must be greater than 80 C to convert to NH3         and CO2.     -   [3] AB solution in absorber is formed from Digester biogas     -   [4] HX on recycled stripper gas to match temperature of stripper         liquid.     -   [5] AB concentrate is supersaturated relative to temperature of         crystallizer.

As depicted in FIG. 4, raw manure 10 with or without associated dairy waste generated at the CAFO is transported to a solids separation unit/process 20 (it being understood that a mixing or holding tank/vessel could be used prior to solids separation and/or can be used for solids separation). The solids separation unit/process may be a single stage or chamber unit or it could be a series of stages or chambers for coarse solids separation and intermediate solids separation.

The slurry/effluent 24 from the solids separation unit 20 is input into an anaerobic digester 30 which digests much, preferably most, of the dissolved organics and small organic particulates to produce biogas 32 and an effluent digestate 34.

The effluent digestate 34 from the anaerobic digester 30 contains residual solids, dissolved salts and organics, and concentrations of dissolved ammonia and carbon dioxide. The present invention collects the ammonia and carbon dioxide and captures them in a subsequent multistage process to form solid ammonium bicarbonate. Each stage of the subsequent multistage process operates at different temperatures to take advantage of the solubility properties of ammonium bicarbonate for its concentration in dissolved form and then its formation as a nitrogen rich solid.

The temperature of digestate 34 out of a typical anaerobic digester treating cattle manure is about 30 degrees Celsius. For the process of the invention, the digestate needs to be heated to greater than about 80 degrees Celsius for treatment in the stripper 40.

The stripper operating at a temperature of greater than about 80 degrees Celsius, without any chemical addition to increase pH, uses gas (biogas, CH4, CO2, air, etc) to remove dissolved ammonia and dissolved carbon dioxide from the digestate 34 creating exhaust vapor 42 containing water vapor, gaseous carbon dioxide, and gaseous ammonia. Vapor 42 will also contain traces of organic volatiles and semi-volatiles. The treated water and solids 44 out of the stripper can be further treated for application to land or water using current treatment technologies. The temperature of the stripper 40 can be maintained using a heat exchanger 46 to heat the recycled stripper gas 45 from the absorber. The vapor 42 created by stripping the digestate 34 in that first stage, the separation stage, is then treated with a cold water stream 53 saturated with CO2, in an absorption stage 50 to create a dissolved ammonium bicarbonate solution. Ammonia is removed from the vapor distillate, producing recycled stripper gas 45 which is heated in heat exchanger 46 prior to entry at the bottom of stripper 40.

Absorber 50 and reverse osmosis filter 60 are used to treat vapor 42 at a temperature of between about 35 degrees Celsius and 50 degrees Celsius. A pressure control valve 48 can be used between the stripper 40 and the absorber 50 to maintain a differential between the two. Operating the absorber 50 between about 35 and 50 degrees Celsius allows the water vapor, ammonia, and carbon dioxide to form dissolved ammonium bicarbonate. Maintaining between about 35 and 50 degrees Celsius in the absorber 50, and a pH less than 9, prevents precipitation of dissolved ammonium bicarbonate or ammonium carbonate and keeps it in dissolved form. Temperature of the absorber 50 can be maintained by control of the flow and temperature of the cold water 53.

Following the absorber 50, and operating at about the same temperature as the absorber 50, the effluent ammonium bicarbonate solution 54 is treated in a reverse osmosis filter 60. Reverse osmosis filter 60 removes water thereby concentrating the ammonium bicarbonate in the solution. The resulting concentrated effluent 64 out of the reverse osmosis filter 60 contains about 50-100 times the concentration of dissolved ammonium bicarbonate in the digestate 34. Control of the reverse osmosis temperature is critical to avoid precipitation of the ammonium bicarbonate on the membrane while achieving a concentration sufficient for saturation at the temperature in the crystallizer. The permeate 62 is a clean water than can be reused or discharged.

The concentrated effluent 64 out of the reverse osmosis filter 60 is then treated at a temperature of less than about 20 degrees Celsius in stage three using a crystallizer 70. Solid crystals of ammonium bicarbonate are grown in the crystallizer 70 under controlled conditions, separated from the liquid fraction to produce an ammonium-salt 74 which may be dried, pelletized or granulated to form a final product. In some embodiments, a portion of the saturated ammonium bicarbonate supernatant is recycled 72 to the reverse osmosis filter 60, after it is heated to the required temperature in heat exchanger 56.

Due to the unique sequence of the preceding unit operations, the resulting ammonium salt may be dried and packaged for commercial distribution as a specialized nitrogen fertilizer, that is high-purity, phosphorus free, and certified USDA organic. The ammonia recovery step is the equivalent of distillation. This allows nearly no salt (including phosphorus salts) carry over to the input to reverse osmosis. Crystallization is another purification step, so that “high-purity, phosphorus free” product is achieved. If synthetic chemicals are not used in obtaining the solid AB or liquid digestate, the ammonium bicarbonate product will have the potential for designation as organic (USDA 2012) fertilizer. The USDA designation is of economic importance as the price of organic fertilizer expressed as dollars per pound ammonia nitrogen, is materially higher than that of chemical (non-organic) fertilizers that are equally uniform, high purity, and concentrated sources of NH3-N. As with synthetic fertilizer, the material is nearly odorless, and has low transport and application costs relative to manure and digestate. If the ammonia is captured with an industrial acid or is derived from application of caustic or other industrial alkali—it will not qualify as organic fertilizer. The ammonium salt according to the invention resolves this conflict by (1) producing ammonia gas thermally with no chemical addition, and (2) using the carbon dioxide found in the digestate to recover the ammonia from the digestate to form an organic fertilizer, ammonium bicarbonate.

The ammonium salt 74 can be stored 80 for use on or off site.

While the present invention has been illustrated by description of various embodiments and while those embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such details. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of applicants' invention. 

We claim:
 1. A process to treat waste containing ammonia nitrogen comprising: treating waste at a temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius to create a gas and, without the addition of chemicals that are not inherently present in the waste, converting substantially all ammonia in the waste to gaseous form in the gas; cooling the gas to between 35 and 50 degrees Celsius and mixing the gas containing gaseous ammonia with carbon dioxide and water vapor forming dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate in a liquid condensate, wherein each of the ammonia, carbon dioxide and water vapor are derived from the waste; concentrating the dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate to a saturation concentration in the liquid condensate using reverse osmosis operating at a temperature between 35 and 50 degrees Celsius; and crystallizing the concentrated dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate condensate at a temperature of less than about 35 degrees Celsius to form solid ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium carbonate.
 2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said treating waste at a temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius comprises stripping the waste of ammonia.
 3. The process according to claim 1, wherein said treating waste at a temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius comprises stripping the waste using biogas from an anaerobic digester used to treat the waste prior to stripping.
 4. The process according to claim 1, wherein said treating waste at a temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius comprises drying the waste using a dryer and removing ammonia with the water vapor.
 5. The process according to claim 1, wherein said treating waste at a temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius comprises separation of the ammonia and other gases using membrane modules.
 6. The process according to claim 1, wherein substantially all of the gaseous ammonia in the gas is converted into ammonium carbonate and ammonia bicarbonate using the carbon dioxide in the gas without the addition of carbon dioxide not present in the digestate.
 7. The process according to claim 6, wherein the waste is a digested dairy manure or other livestock manure.
 8. The process according to claim 1, wherein said concentrating the dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate in the liquid condensate comprises use of at least one stage of a reverse osmosis process creating a concentrated reverse osmosis effluent.
 9. The process according to claim 8, wherein said dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate concentration in the concentrated reverse osmosis effluent is about 10 times the ammonium concentration in the liquid condensate.
 10. The process according to claim 7, wherein said concentrating the dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate in the liquid condensate comprises use of a two-stage reverse osmosis creating a concentrated reverse osmosis effluent.
 11. The process according to claim 10, wherein said dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate concentration in the concentrated reverse osmosis effluent is at least about 50 times the concentration of dissolved ammonium bicarbonate in the digestate.
 12. The process according to claim 1, wherein solid crystals of ammonium bicarbonate grown in the crystallizer are produced creating a solid ammonium-salt.
 13. The process according to claim 12, wherein the ammonium-salt is dried, pelletized or granulated.
 14. A process to treat waste containing ammonia nitrogen comprising: treating waste in an anaerobic digester creating a digestate; treating the digestate using an ultra filter to remove solids of greater than 0.5 micron in size from the digestate; heating the filtered digestate to a temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius and treating the heated, filtered, digestate using a membrane filter device, without addition of chemicals that are not inherently present in the waste, to separate liquid creating a vapor containing water vapor, ammonia, and carbon dioxide; cooling the vapor to between 35 and 50 degrees Celsius forming dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate in a liquid condensate; concentrating the dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate to achieve saturation in the liquid condensate using reverse osmosis operating at a temperature between 35 and 50 degrees Celsius; and crystallizing the concentrated dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate condensate at a temperature of less than about 35 degrees Celsius to form solid ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium carbonate.
 15. The process according to claim 14, wherein the waste is a dairy manure.
 16. The process according to claim 14, wherein substantially all of the ammonia in the vapor is converted into ammonium carbonate and ammonia bicarbonate using the carbon dioxide in the vapor without the addition of carbon dioxide from another source.
 17. The process according to claim 14, wherein said concentrating the dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate in the liquid condensate comprises use of a two-stage reverse osmosis creating a concentrated reverse osmosis effluent.
 18. The process according to claim 17, wherein said dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate concentration in the concentrated reverse osmosis effluent is about 10 times the ammonium concentration, in the form of ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate, in the liquid condensate.
 19. The process according to claim 15, wherein said concentrating the dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate in the liquid condensate comprises use of a two-stage reverse osmosis creating a concentrated reverse osmosis effluent.
 20. The process according to claim 19, wherein said dissolved ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate concentration in the concentrated reverse osmosis effluent is at least about 50 times the concentration of dissolved ammonium bicarbonate in the digestate.
 21. The process according to claim 14, wherein solid crystals of ammonium bicarbonate grown in the crystallizer are produced creating a solid ammonium-salt.
 22. The process according to claim 21, wherein the ammonium-salt is dried, pelletized or granulated. 